


How to accidentally adopt a child

by LemonOtterpop



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: ?? - Freeform, Family Fluff, Gwom - Freeform, It’s pretty short ngl, Max//vid shippers can fuck right off please and thank you, Mentioned Original Characters - Freeform, Mom Gwen, Multi, Oversimplification of the adoption process, but I enjoyed writing it and you guys seemed to enjoy reading it, dadvid, don’t touch my stories, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-28
Updated: 2018-08-28
Packaged: 2019-07-03 18:36:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15824619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonOtterpop/pseuds/LemonOtterpop
Summary: David remembers the first time he met Max, he had tripped on his way off the bus.David has known Max for years and every year Max had been taken home late but he had been taken home. Now his parents are no shows and it’s up to David to figure it all out.





	How to accidentally adopt a child

**Author's Note:**

> Originally titled home is where the pizza is

 

_Step 1: find a child_

Max was the first kid to arrive at camp every year he came, David remembers the first time he met Max, he had tripped on his way off the bus skinning his knee, David had offered him a band-aid wordlessly but didn’t get the chance to talk to him before he was preoccupied into something else but the next time he saw Max the yellow band-aid had been stuck over his scrape.  
Max had been the youngest of the group, 7 years old and had a scowl permanently on his face.  
He didn’t speak a word for the first week, then Davids co-worker of the time had sat next to him at lunch and tried to talk to him. He remembers watching Max’s face screw up in confusion then annoyance as Jessica spoke to him with a cheery smile, he remembers Max flicking her food tray off and yelling loudly for her to fuck off.  
Max spoke more after; if only to spew constant negativity, Jessica hadn’t wanted to deal with him at all after that, so it had been up to David to corral him into camp activities and semi compliance.  
It had been stressful but something about Max made him want to try his hardest to help him.

_Step 2: bond with the child_

It took years to figure out how to act around Max, what would set him off and what wouldn’t, the easiest ways to calm him down and the best ways to comfort him.  
After you figured that out, it was fairly easy to attempt to bond with him.  
Successful was another case but you could always attempt.  
Gwen seemed to get it right away, wasn’t pushy or persistent like David and while she and Max had a strange relationship based almost exclusively off shit talking others they still cared about each other. David was happy that at least Max had one person he could trust, even if he was slightly jealous.  
It had taken time but Max opened up more, made friends and slowly grew closer to David and before long his patience had paid off.

_Step 3: protect the child_

They hadn’t been surprised when Max’s parents didn’t turn up.  
Max had predicted it from day one and everyone else figured it out along the way. They didn’t care enough about him to sign him up for a camp, why would they remember him long enough to do something as tedious as picking him up?  
Everyone else was home by the time the sun set, Gwen had enlisted Max’s help in one last sweep over the tents while David boiled over with rage.  
He paced around the counsellor cabin, stony expression and phone to his ear. After several attempts at calling they picked up and it was a miracle he kept his voice as polite as he did  
“Hello? Is this Mr or Mrs Dalton?”  
“Yes” a gruff voice had huffed, clearly annoyed  
“Your son Max is currently in my care, I was wondering if you had any intention of picking him up today. As it is the last day of camp and thus my legal obligation to supervise has come to an end”  
“No”  
“Excuse me?”  
“The kid isn’t an idiot, he can catch a bus,” the voice says, uninterested in what David was actually saying  
“I’m sorry Mr Dalton, I was under the impression that you lived in San Francisco”  
“what are you retarded? Of course, we live in San Francisco ”  
“Sir, that's almost 24 hours from Camp Campbell” he fought to keep the anger out of his voice  
“And?”  
“Max is 10” rage coiled inside him,  
“well, no one has the fucking time to get the kid from some stupid summer camp” the man snaps back and David doesn’t hide his anger anymore. It quickly turns from an argument to a screaming match.  
The man didn’t care about Max! How dare he talk about him that way, how dare he talk about a child that way.  
The conversation ended, loudly, the man shouted  
“If you like the kid so fucking much keep him!”

_Step 4: take the child home_

Gwen thought he was crazy, he was technically kidnapping Max for Christ Sake!  
Max himself hadn’t seemed to mind much when David had told him the watered down version of what happened and that’s what mattered to him.  
Max wanted to stay with him.  
Gwen had sighed, wary and all too used to this kind of thing to be shocked, before bidding the pair goodbye and driving back into town towards home.  
Max had climbed into the backseat, claiming Davids jacket as a blanket before quietly slipping off to sleep.  
David didn’t blame him, it been a long day and was almost midnight by the time they finally left the camp.  
Watching the small boy with his face squished against the car seat, he sighed the realisation that he just accidentally adopted a kid hitting him.  
He chuckled to himself, he should write a book  
“How to accidentally adopt a small, angry 10-year-old”  
It would be a bestseller, he thinks dryly, turning his eyes back to the road.  
This was going to be an interesting experience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of just for explanation and it will probably get deleted once I have more nicely written and ready to post chapters lined up but for now enjoy this sleep deprivation fueled hot mess

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all have a radical day and thanks for reading. Let me know if you’d like to see more and leave some suggests if you’d like - Ottie


End file.
